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Major Applewhite hires Art Briles’ son and another Baylor ex at Houston

Houston coach Major Applewhite announced Saturday that he’d hired Kendal Briles, the son of Art Briles, as the Cougars’ new offensive coordinator.

In addition, Applewhite also added Randy Clements, who was on the older Briles’ staff at Baylor and Houston, to work with the Cougars’ offensive line.

“They have extensive knowledge of our program and its standards, and we know they will be the right fit,” Applewhite said in a statement to the media. “They have both been a part of some of the nation’s top offenses with multiple programs and have shown the ability to learn and adapt while staying thoroughly tied into our state’s landscape in terms of recruiting.”

Applewhite and Kendal Briles were teammates at Texas in 2001. Briles transferred to Houston, where he played for the Cougars in 2003-05.

His first full-time job was as an assistant on his father’s staff at Baylor.

The hirings already were drawing negative attention, with a columnist from the Houston Chronicle criticizing the move. Brenda Tracy, a rape survivor who goes around the country and talks to football teams, also didn’t like the hire.

I met @CoachApplewhite I shared my story with his team. I’m not only disappointed by this hire – I’m deeply saddened. I’m not sure how he came to this decision, but it goes against everything we discussed and agreed was important to shift football culture. https://t.co/nMPZcLIRH2

Art Briles was fired in May, 2016, after an independent law firm found that the coach and his football team believed themselves to be above the law when dealing with allegations of sexual assault. Baylor also fired its school president and the athletic director resigned. Interim coach Jim Grobe kept all of Briles’ staff of assistants, including Kendal Briles and Clements, for the 2016 season. Matt Rhule, who was hired in December, 2016, didn’t retain any of the coaches.

Applewhite said both Briles and Clements were vetted before the hire.

“Throughout this process we have researched their abilities and backgrounds with several references and have received glowing praise,” Applewhite said in the statement.

Chris Pezman, Houston athletic director, also released a statement in support of the hiring of Briles and Clements.

“Every hire in our athletics department, from the top to bottom, is an important one and we vet every candidate for employment in our department,” Pezman said. “We have done our research on the backgrounds of both Kendal and Randy, and Coach Applewhite has been in close contact with myself and our university leadership providing all necessary information and to gain approval.”

Before the scandal with his father, Kendal Briles was viewed as one of the top young offensive minds in the game. He was a finalist for the Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant coach, in 2015.

Lane Kiffin hired him as the offensive coordinator at Florida Atlantic. The offense ranked ninth in the country this past season, averaging nearly 500 yards per game.

Kendal Briles said good bye to his FAU players and coaches Saturday afternoon.